At the End of the Rope
by ZaraValinor
Summary: Post All Hell Breaks Loose. Sam and Dean are once again on the hunt, but what are you to do when demons loom over your shoulder.


I do not own Supernatural. But hey it would be freaky cool if I did.

**Prologue:**

It was past midnight and the white washed halls of the hospital were shaded grey in the low light of the night time power down. Indian summer was beginning to fade and though the hospital was temperature controlled, the night shift guard tugged his uniform jacket tighter around him.

Ed Carson was a family man. A wife. Two kids. His youngest just recently graduated from high school and was on her way to college. He had just paid off the mortgage on a pretty little split level home. He lived a simple life, but a good one. And he was content with what the good Lord had gifted him.

The night job, was as familiar as his old flannel shirt. And Ed walked the halls with practiced ease. It was a quiet night, most of the patience having settled into slumber, the hospital staff brought to a skeleton crew.

With flashlight clasped tightly in his hands, he moved through the halls. Step by step. Content to wander in the quiet until his shift was up and he could cuddle up next to Rosie and sleep the morning away.

He frowned when the dimmed lights began to flicker. The hospital was old, but well maintained. Ed couldn't remember once having any electrical problems, even seven years ago when the whole city had lost power.

Ed walked to the nearest light fixture, watched it for a moment as it flickered between light and darkness. Reaching a hand up, he twisted the bolt on the casing and exposed the bulb. He tapped a finger nail to it, but it continued to flutter like butterfly wings.

From his belt, he pulled his walkie talkie, switched it on and received static. He turned the dial, switched channels, attempting to reach the front desk.

Sighing in defeat, Ed looked up just in time to see a woman pass across the open hall.

"Excuse me," he called out, not recognizing her. Hurrying down the hall towards him. "Excuse me."

She turned slowly to face him when he came to the bend at the end of the hall. "Hello," she greeted him. Her voice was wispy, a deep contra alto. She wasn't dressed in a hospital robe, but in a white nightgown. Her hair was dark, the color of ink, and her eyes were large and empty. Ed figured she'd wandered out of the psych ward.

"Are you lost?" he asked gently.

The woman shook her head from side to side. "No, I'm right where I belong. I've reached the end of my journey. The reward for all my hard work."

Ed gave a half smile, chuckling nervously. Yes, definitely from the psych ward. "Come on, sweetie," he said. "Let's get you back to your room. Where did you come from?"

"Outside," she answered in a sing-song voice.

Ed's brow furrowed in concern. "You were outside?"

"Are you happy?" she answered the question with a question.

Caught off guard, he replied without thinking. "Of course."

"Have everything you've ever wanted?" she continued, one inky eyebrow raised persistently.

"Well, yeah," Ed said with a shrug.

He gasped a moment later when the lady's dark but vacant eyes went as inky as her hair. "Good."

* * *

One hand full of paperwork, the other scrounging in her purse for the keys to her office. In her mouth, held tightly in between her teeth, was a cup of coffee she'd picked up from Starbucks.

Karen Sellers was twenty-eight and already a successful psychiatrist. People who had been in the business for years, were all watching her and the way she worked. She wrote papers and people not only read them, but wrote their own based on her research. Her brilliance.

This morning a man from the FBI had called. He had two murderers, a pair of brothers, who were playing the insane angle on their plea before the court. He needed a full psych evaluation before they could do anything about the Winchester brothers.

She was busy as hell, but it was what she wanted.

A perfect life.

Karen fished the keys out of her purse and unlocked the door. She pushed through, coming into the office. The coffee spilled from her mouth as a scream tore through her.

Above her, hanging from a line of cord, his body limp and lifeless, was the old security watch man, Ed Carson.


End file.
